Love is not a competition
by Mark Ruiz
Summary: A story about Dave loving his brother and having to face rejection and finding hope in a friend. Dirk is Dave's older brother in this.


Dave was never really one to hurt people, it was uncool. Really, it just wasn't right at all, didn't give him a good feeling in his chest. So standing there was awkward and the tension kept rising up at a hastened pace.

"Look, I don't want to be the one to disappoint you," he said bringing up his hands to caress the pale cheeks that had tears running down them. He cringed on the inside, crying was not pretty at all.

He looked into her eyes, through his shades of course. He frowned a bit, trying not to send her into further sadness than she currently was in. He sighed slowly, wiping another tear away. Arms wrapped around his neck, he stood still, unsure what to do. "It'll be all okay, yeah," he tried reassuring. Dave Strider is a sweetheart and will always be one, unless a series of unfortunate events would take place in his life. But he would never admit to being one, it was un-ironic for him.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing he could say at the moment.

She nodded," It is okay," wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt she added," is there someone else?" She didn't bother unhooking her arms from his neck as she waited for an answer.

His hot breath replied in her ear," Yeah, I'm sorry. But I hardly doubt that person would like me back and would probably reject me." And here he was, rejecting the girl he knew right now.

"Is it a girl I know," was her timid reply. He chewed on the inside of his mouth, a bad habit, but he wasn't feeling so good at the moment. "No," a simple yet effective answer he gave in reply to her.

"Is it… is it a boy then, Dave," she whispered slowly. Unsure of what to feel now, multiple feelings swirled in her stomach. She felt a wave of disbelief as she heard his reply of a quiet yes. Maybe that yes wasn't even for her; maybe Dave was just thinking out loud and unsure what to do just like her.

"I hope he likes you back, you really deserve somebody nice for you, Dave," she said trying to even out her breathing.

He hugged her back, tried to reassure her once more as he wrapped his arms around her waist in return of the long time hug she was giving. "No, you deserve somebody, not me," he said truthfully. She shook her head and released him from the hug," Fine, we both deserve somebody in our lives then, yeah Dave?"

"Yes Jade," he said and nodded, a weak smile graced his slightly chapped lips.

* * *

He came home to his shared apartment, not even bothering to check to see if his brother was there. He probably wasn't there anyways, so why raise his hopes up? He took off his red converse and shut the door slowly; he proceeded to walk to the kitchen and opened up his fridge. Cheap weapons fell out of the fridge, why did he even bother trying to see if there was any food in there. He felt a hand suddenly go on his shoulder and freaked out on the inside, he slowly turned his head and saw Lil Cal. Fuck, why did his brother even keep that thing? It needed to burn, along with all those multicolored puppet asses, smuppets or whatever, creepy ass things.

"Hey Cal," he said and grinded his teeth a bit as he looked at the fallen weapons, he turned his head to look at the puppet but didn't see it where it had been. Fucking creepy, that's what it was. He noticed somebody was pestering him on Pester Chum but didn't feel like replying. He went to his room and threw the phone on his bed, but it flopped down to the floor after it hit his bed. "Fucking bullshit," he cursed. He looked at his bed and saw a post-it note.

_Come to the roof to get your ass beat – Bro_.

That dick, he went to the living room and got a katana and headed to the roof.

* * *

He grew cautious, no sight of his brother yet. He adjusted his shades; the Texan sun was beating down on him with its harsh heat. He yelled out," Come out you smuppet dick." He looked around, still no sign. Then all of a sudden he was kicked in the chest. _Fuck that hurt_, he thought as he landed on the ground. He got up quickly and looked at Bro who had the same asshole smirk on.

"What can't handle a little kick to the chest?" He was really getting on his nerves. No, Dave wasn't angry; he was pissed as a wave of anger flooded him.

He launched at his brother, gripping the cheap katana hard at the handle. He slashed at him and his attack was blocked. He took his left hand off the katana and went for an uppercut. His brother dodged it with skill and punched Dave in the nose. "If you want to be treated like a man, and then start acting like one," Bro said. Bro was just being a dick like usual, another tease that would just make him angrier, so he tried attacking the older Strider again as he blocked an attack and then tackled his older brother. He yelled at him," I fucking hate you," he yelled and tried punching bro again, but it missed and his fist came in contact with the ground. It scratched up his hand, making him bleed a bit and the throb of pain was not appealing.

Bro was just playing with him, it was all just some fucked up game that Dave was tired of playing. "Look, just fucking knock it off," Dave said and successfully punched him. Bro's pointed shades flew off and the orange eyes of Dirk Strider had a hint of sadness in them. Dave got off of his brother and just started walking away. This just wasn't the day for strifing. Tears of frustration threatened to fall. _Striders do not cry, crying is uncool and for lame people like Egderp. _

His left arm was grabbed and Bro forced him to turn to face him. Bro hadn't even bothered to put his beloved shades back on. "What's wrong, Dave," Bro said. Hmm, it actually sounded like he cared. Dave frowned and refused to look at him, even though the older Strider had ripped his own walls away from himself. The shades gave both Striders a sense of protection.

"Nothing," Dave replied, the tears had finally fallen. Gog, he was so fucking weak.

Dave broke down on the inside, finally looking into his brother's eyes. Bro frowned and hugged Dave tightly. "You've grown up so much, it's surprising me," Bro said quietly.

"Huh," Dave replied.

Bro didn't say anything else; he just focused on hugging his brother. "What's wrong," he tried asking once more.

"I like somebody," Dave said and cried harder, he tried pushing his brother away but it didn't work. The older male's muscled arms tightened around him.

"Yeah, so, and did they reject you or something," Bro asked him. Dave took off his shades, his red eyes blurry with tears. "No, I rejected somebody today, my friend Jade," he mumbled and tried evening his breath out without success.

"Yeah, so what about that person that you like," Bro asked. Dave frowned and shook his head.

"You wouldn't fucking understand, Dirk," Bro frowned as Dave said his name since it was uncommon that the light blond headed boy would say it.

"Is it your best friend, Dave," he asked and tightened his grip, nuzzling into Dave's shoulder," because that can hurt a lot. Trust me, that happened to me." Dave just frowned. Dave finally managed to squirm out of his older brother's grip.

"No, close but not really, someone worse," Dave said uneasy.

"Is it a teacher or something," Bro said, giving up on guessing.

"No, it's… well, you," he said. And then Dave waited for a reaction.

"This is my entire fault, I'm sorry," Dirk said and shook his head," I fucked up _a lot_."

Dave frowned, refusing to believe what his brother said and he started walking away, leaving his brother to collect his thoughts on the roof. Tears came down heavily, Dave cried worse than before in his room.

* * *

A couple weeks later Bro had started bringing girls home late at night. Dave tried blocking out the noises but it wouldn't work. Each day he grew restless, he started to despond. He stopped caring. Stopped bothering to reply to his friend on Pester Chum, they probably all thought that he died. Which was true, he died, on the inside. All hope was gone by the next week; his brother started drinking himself to sleep and would cause a fuss before collapsing on his futon. Dave started failing school, he didn't care anymore, he even didn't bother with his hair too, his light blond hair was messy and his eyes were bloodshot, but nobody noticed since he wore shades all the time. His skin color was beginning to become deathly pale. He stopped eating even, he was never hungry, always tired and rarely left the house. He stopped talking to his friend at school, people still thought he was cool but were wondering what was going on with him since he stopped talking.

Dave picked up on a bad habit, he started smoking. He knew it was bad for his health, but frankly he didn't give a fuck.

Then on a great day, he met Gamzee Makara. The lanky messy haired guy was the first one to notice Dave's behavior. He never bothered talking to Dave though, so they really didn't know each other. Well, at least Dave didn't know Gamzee.

"Hey brother," Gamzee said as he put a hand on Dave's shoulder. Dave was dozing at his table at lunch and was startled by the hand; he didn't even bother to cover up his shock.

"What the fuck, what do you want," Dave said and glared at him through his shades. Gamzee gave him a wolfish grin," Wanted to see if a brother was okay, you?"

Dave narrowed his eyes and then replied," I'm fucking dandy, I was just taking a fucking nap."

"Now we all know that's a lie, but it's cool," the stoner extended his arm out," the name is Gamzee Makara motherfucker, how 'bout you brother," he asked.

"Dave, Dave fucking Strider," and for once in a couple of weeks, Dave smiled.

From then on Dave and Gamzee hung out a lot, smoked quality weed together and chilled at Gamzee's house.

"Why don't we go to your house," Gamzee asked and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Fucking creepy, dude," Dave laughed and smiled. They were in a horn pile, both squeezed next to each other while sharing a perfectly rolled blunt. Dave adjusted himself and winced as he somehow managed to make one of the horns honk.

"Honk, motherfucker," Gamzee said with a grin on his paint covered face.

* * *

They laughed; everything was so peaceful with Gamzee. Until one day one of Gamzee's close friends, Karkat Vantas, told him to stop smoking weed. It was a Saturday and Gamzee had asked Dave to come over to his out via Pester Chum. Dave accepted the offer and grinned, he couldn't wait. He drove to Gamzee's house, which wasn't that far and just opened the door, Gamzee was his best friend so it was okay that he didn't have to knock on the door.

"Gamzee," he called out and heard a honk in the distance. Gamzee was just fucking with him again.

"HEY MOTHERFUCKING, HOW'S it going with you," Gamzee kept on switching between and inside voice and a yelling voice.

Dave didn't know what was going on, he was shocked to see Gamzee pop out of the darkness and right in front of Dave, his make-up was smeared and he had an intimidatingly creepy smile. Three lines streaked across his face, parallel from each other, they were bleeding.

"Gamzee, bro," Dave was trying to keep his cool," what happened to you?" Gamzee frowned and ran a hand through Dave's hair and plucked his shades off of him to gaze into those hauntingly red irises.

"What the fuck bro," Dave said trying to snatch his shades back. But the tall juggalo wouldn't let him have them back.

"Your eyes, ARE MOTHERFUCK miracles, DAVE," Gamzee said and looked into Dave's eyes.

Dave blushed, a light pink hue ghosted over his cheeks, he was flustered as he looked away. Then he turned his head to look at Gamzee again but the clown wasn't there. _What the fuck is going on_, Dave thought. He jumped as he felt skinny arms wrap around his waist as Gamzee pulled Dave back to be squished up against Gamzee's chest.

"Motherfuck Karbro WANTED ME TO STOP SMOKING my miracle weed, so AS A GOOD FRIEND I STOPPED FOR HIM," Gamzee said leaning over Dave's head to look him in the eyes and giving him a toothy grin.

Gamzee didn't seem right; he was insane when he was sober.

"Gamzee, fucking snap out of it," he said and then turned around to tackle Gamzee. They tumbled onto the floor and Dave got the upper hand, he sat on the clown's chest and grabbed both of his wrists. "No, I HAVE TO STAY SOBER," Gamzee said struggling. Dave somehow managed to knock him out with an uppercut to the jaw and brought Gamzee's body to his room.

"Gamzee can't stay here right now," he said to himself and went to Gamzee's stash of Kush. He struggled to carry the tall messy haired male to his car but then shoved him in the back of the car. He brought along the weed and one of Gamzee's bongs. He got to his apartment; thankfully Bro was not there and took the unconscious Gamzee to his room. Some smuppets were on the floor and he kicked some of them away that were in his path. He tried to gently put Gamzee on his bed but slipped a little bit and it was a bit of a crash. He took off Gamzee's shirt, pants, socks, and shoes and then threw the covers on him. He locked the door and took off his shirt, pants and shoes, and just relaxed on a vibrant red bean bag chair. He pulled out the supplies and hit up the bong.

* * *

Gamzee woke up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his right hand. "What," he mumbled and groaned, stretching his limbs lazily. What room was he in? This was certainly not his house. "Morning, princess," he heard a slight Texan dialect.

"Dave?" The blond hair boy just grinned at him as he turned his head to look at this unclothed friend. Dave inhaled into the bong and then walked over to Gamzee. He tipped Gamzee's head back and pried his lips open. Dave breathed into them, his lips ghosting over Gamzee's, barely touching. "You were sober and insane," Dave replied. And then he went to go get the bong and then sat down on the bend next to Gamzee. Gamzee wasn't sure; he did not know what to do at all. Dave hooked his leg over Gamzee's waist while sitting.

"You want some more," Dave gestured to the multicolored bong that was turning bright blue now.

Gamzee grinned and replied," You motherfucking know me, bro," and nodded a bit.

Inhale. Exhale.

They were exchanging them.

Then somebody was banging at the door," Dave, get your ass out here!"

"B-Bro," Dave said and looked at the floor, he hasn't spoken to him in a while. "Hold on, Dirk," Dave replied and started dressing. He was in a rush; he slipped some red skinny jeans on with a black hoodie. His shades were back on, and he ushered Gamzee into his closet. He finally opened the door and saw a drunken Bro.

"What do you want," he asked.

Dirk leaned towards him and flicked his nose," What's that smell? You little shit better not be smoking cannabis in here." But Dave nodded and frowned," Now get the fuck away from me."

Bro just shook his head," Nope, cannot do that at all," and leaned in to kiss Dave. The kiss was cut shortly as Dave shoved him away and shut the door in his face, locking it so it wouldn't happen again.

"Motherfucker, you okay," Dave jumped, he forgot his friend Gamzee was there.

"Look, I'm sorry you had to see that, a friend shouldn't have seen that," and crossed his arms. "Can a bro have some clothes," Gamzee asked and Dave nodded, and pointed to the pile of Gamzee's clothes in the corner. "Thanks bro," Dave just nodded, a little bit unnerved about what had happened.

"Look, just stay un-sober, okay? A sober bro is an unhappy bro apparently, you went ape shit," Dave said and stuffed his hands in his hoodie's pockets. Dave then started laughing, the cannabis was doing that to him, "Fuck that tension, let's go watch the stars," he said and grabbed Gamzee's wrist.

* * *

They were on the roof, relaxing, the Texan sun was out and it was early in the morning, around 2 in the morning to be exact. They were lying on their backs and smoking a blunt. They were giggling and happy. Maybe you just had to find that special person. Because Dave definitely felt way more fucking better than how he was a couple weeks ago.

"Thanks Gamz," Dave said with a grin and then giggled a bit, a manly giggle, mind you.

"For what, bro, miracles worked and shit," Gamzee said and then took a long drag.

"You and your fucking miracles," Dave sighed and crossed his arms to lie his head on them. He stared at the sky, he was glad those birds were making any noises.

"Caw caw, motherfuckers," Dave said and giggled.

"Caw caw, motherfucks," Gamzee replied with a grin and then broke out in laughter.


End file.
